History of Christmas Trees

The history of christmas trees did
not begin in America, England or even Germany. In fact America was one
of the last continents to catch on to the tradition of decorating the
Christmas tree. The history of christmas trees begins long before the
birth of Christ and even before the Egyptian civilizations.

Many
historians and anthropologists agree that the history of christmas trees
begins in post-primeval times, just as agricultural societies were
developing across the globe. Christmas did not exist. It was simply, in
one culture or another, a pagan celebration of the winter solstice.
The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year which usually
occurs on the 22nd or 23rd of December. The boughs of evergreen trees
were brought indoors to protect inhabitants from the evil spirits that
could cause starvation and illness.

Ancient peoples also scattered
evergreen boughs over their floors, doors and around the windows. In
fact, the tradition of hanging an evergreen garland comes from the
tradition of hanging evergreens over the mantelpiece to keep witches,
ghosts and spirits from traveling down the chimney and into the house.
Evergreen
boughs were also used to keep away illness. Scents such as pine,
juniper and balsam are still used by aromatherapists today to fend off
illness and winter depression.

Even the ancient Egyptians were
thought to play a role in the history of christmas trees. Of course
there were no evergreen forests in ancient Egypt but during the solstice
they filled their homes with palm rushes to protect themselves from
evil and celebrate the return of their Sun God Ra.

Christmas Trees

European and
Mediterranean cultures also have episodes in the long saga that is part
of the history of christmas trees. On the solstice, known as Saturnalia,
the Romans decorated their homes with evergreen boughs. This honored
the God Saturn whose domain was agriculture. Further north, the Celtic
Druids used evergreens on the darkest day of the year to symbolize
eternal life. These trees were not decorated as we know them today. They
were not much more decorative than the famous Charlie brown christmas
tree. This is because the function of these evergreen boughs was more
protective than celebratory.

By the 12th century indoor trees were
brought inside. Nobody is sure why but originally Christmas trees were
hung upside-down from ceilings at Christmastime. This was a popular
custom in Central Europe. The upside down tree was seen as both as a
symbol of Christianity and a pagan symbol. At that point Christianity
was not wide spread and the tree may have been a nod to both pagan and
Christian traditions.

It is widely believed that the history of
the Christmas tree as we know it began in Germany in the sixteenth
century. However few people realize that the tree was not brought inside
and that in fact, the first decorated christmas tree was a pyramid made
of wood. These German indoor pyramids were decorated with boughs and
candles. Often jars of pickles were set on the steps. The pyramid shape
was not a direct inspiration from ancient Egypt but rather, the
triangular shape was thought to represent the three points of the Holy
Trinity - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The person credited
with adding lighted candles to a real tree is Martin Luther - a German
Protestant reformer who lived in the mid 1600s. The legend is that he
was inspired to do so by the sight of stars in the night sky peeking
through the limbs of an evergreen while he was on a walk.

The next
big development in the history of christmas trees was tinsel. Tinsel
was invented in Germany around 1610. At that time, tinsel was made of
real silver and it tarnished easily thanks to the smoke from the
christmas tree candles. Silver was used for tinsel right up to the
mid-20th century when it was replaced by aluminum.

The history of
christmas trees was non-existent in America until about the 1840s. They
were sometimes displayed as curios in traveling sideshows. The christmas
tree decorating ritual was considered sacrilegious for most of the 17th
and 18th century. It was seen as a mockery of the sober celebration of
the birth of Christ. In fact in 1659, people were fined for hanging
decorations.

This law continued until the 19th century when the
tradition was brought more into common practice by German and Irish
immigrants to the United States. The practice was also made more
acceptable when Queen Victoria decided to make a right side up
floor-to-ceiling xmas tree part of her décor in 1846.
One
difference between European customs and American customs seemed to be
that Europeans were more inclined to decorate their trees with food,
cookies and candies (and even pickles!) whereas Americans were more
into glitzy decorations. Also the European christmas trees tended to be
shorter (three to four feet in height) while the Americans preferred
their trees to be sky-high. Both cultures however enjoyed decorating
their trees with garlands of popcorns and electric lights.

In the
1950s America saw the advent of the first artificial christmas trees.
This event was celebrated by Charles M. Schulz famous fable about the
Charlie brown Christmas tree. In this fable Charlie Brown is told by
Linus, Lucy and Shroeder to go out and find the biggest flashiest
aluminum tree to use as a decoration for their Christmas play. Instead
Brown falls in love with the most pathetic tree ever and finds the true
meaning of Christmas. You can buy a replica of this type of tree which
is often called the "pathetic charlie brown christmas tree" online.
True to the original cartoon, the tree boasts just one red Christmas
ball ornament on a single bare limb.

The argument about which is
better - a fake christmas tree or a real christmas tree still rages on
today. The most recent development in the history of Christmas trees is
the return of the upside down christmas tree, which is disapproved by
the church just as it was in the sixteenth century. If history keeps
repeating itself the next trend we will see in xmas trees is the ancient
wooden pyramids that served as artificial trees in pagan times.